Machine for expanding sheet metal.



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Y L. E. CURTIS. MACHINE FOR EXPANDING SHEET METAL.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 7, 190B.

Patented Apr. 6, 1909.

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MACHINE FOR EXPANDING SHEE'i METAL.

PLIOATION FILED JULY 7, 19GB.

Patented Apr. 6, 1909.

59M 45M rwl L. E. CURTIS.

MACHINE FOR EXPANDING SHEET METAL.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 1, 190g.

917,715. Patented Apr. 6, 1909.

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L. E. GURTIS. MAoHmn r011 EXPANDING SHEET METAL.

LPPLIOATIOH FILED JULY 7, 190B.

Patented Apr 6, 1909.

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UNITED STATES PATENI oEEIoE.

LEWIS E. CURTIS, CF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASS IGNOR TO BRECKENRIDGE JONES,TRUSTEE,

' OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

MACHINE FQB EXPANDING SHEET METAL.

No. 91-min.

gpeciflcation of Letters Patent.

Patented April e, 1909.

Application filed July 7, 1900. Serial No. 325,068.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, LEWIS E. CURTIS, a citizen of the United States,residing in Chiin the county of Cook and State of Illinois, haveinvented a new and useful Impi'ovement in Machines for Expanding Sheettion.

This. invention relates to a machine'for expanding sheet metal which hasbeen pre-' viously .cut or slitted. It embodies the in vention set forthin the patent to me, dated August 1., .1905, and numbered 796 402, andIts ject has been to obtain aconstructiozrwhmh will insure more perfectwork than previous.

.machines. In said patented machine, the

- the edge over w 'ch the sheet is sheet is drawn continuously overtheedge of a su cprt and deflected hway from the plane 0 t e sup ort as itmoves off the same, drawn being in 'the construction illustrated,arranged at an angle to the direction of the feed, and in the preferredconstruction of the machine, also disclosed in the atent, the sheet ismoved longitudinally over two diverging su ports which are adapted todeflect the si es of the sheet in opposite directions from the plane ofthe sheet, one, half" of the sheet upward and the other half downward,the sup orts mentioned being stationary. While t iese constructions weregreat imrovements on the prior art, and are calcuated to expand sheetsmore ,or less perfectly, and with a rapidity previously deemedimpossible, I have conceived that an expanding machine constructed likethe preferred construction of the patented one except that the supportsover which, the sheet is moved and from which it is deflected areprovided with moving instead of stationary surfaces,

would perform the work with the same rapidity but in a better mannerthan the patented machine, and avoid the dil'liculties met with inoperating it.

To that end I have devised the machine of the present application, andit consists in the novel construction of parts and devices and in thenovel combinations of parts and devices hereinafter set forth.

In the drawing,Figure 1 is-a plan of the 2 is a side elevation. Fig. 3is a longitudinal vertical section. Fig. 4 is an enlarged side elevationof the cooperating feed chains acting on one side of.

etal, of which the following is a specifica" the sheet. Fig. 5 is a planview of-the lower half of the right hand expander arm and Fig.

.6 is a bottom lan of the upper half of the same arm part y broken away.Fig. 7 is a crosssection on the line 77 of Fig. 4. Figs. 8, 9 and 10 aresectional views of a sheet undergoing expansion. Fig. 11 is a partialIan of a slitted sheet upon which the mac me is adapted to operate.Fig.- 12 shows the expanded sheet.

Referring to said drawings, 15 represents the frame of the machine. 5The drive shaft is shownat 10 reeeivingpower from the pulley 17 andcommunicating it to the machine b a pinion 18 meshing with a gear 19 onshat 20. Shaft 20 carries a gear 21 meshing with a car 22 upon a shaft23 0x tendin across the machine and carrying at one si'e of the machinea gear 24 meshing with a gear 25 upon the shaft of a sprocket whee 26.This sprocket wheel is connected by achain 27 to another sprocket wheel28 on the shaft 29. Shaft 29 carries a gear 30 and also a sprocket wheel31 ads ted to actuate one of the feed chains. ear 30 upon shaft 29meshes withanother ar 32 on the shaft 33 carr in a sprocket w eel 34driving another of t e eed chains. On the shaft23- is a sprocket wheel35 connected b2 a chain 36 to a sprocket wheel 37 on a she t 38; shaft38 also carries a gear 300 similar to gear 30, and meshing with a gear39 driving a shaft 390 Shafts 38 and 390 each carry a sprocket wheel notshown, adapted to actuate the feed chains of the downwardly in clinedarm.

Upon the shaft 23 is mounted a feed roll 40 and said shaft also carriesa pinion 41 mesh: ing with a pinion 42 on-the 3ournal of a second feedroll 43. These feed rolls coact in forcing the slitted sheets into theexpander; The upper of these feed rolls is supported in a pivote frame44, the pivot beingfhown .at '45 in such manner that it can e thrownover from its operatin position, shown in full lines at Fig. 3, toiilaat shown in dotted lines in the same figure. Said roll 43 is shcwnin Figs. 1 and 2 as thrown back to its non-acting position, thusdestroying the mesh between its actuatingipinions 41 and 42. Thisenables access to be ad to the assin sheet. When in its acting position,t is ro 43. is held to its work by splrin s 46. The feed rolls 40 and 43deliver t e s itted sheets between the stationary guides 47 and 48 aswell as those of the and the ot i arms are substantialli alike-inconstruction,

- other.

parallel with ism.

be arms, one ripe'rating n one sidpftheeet or upon 'the ngher side.These difle only in the act that one is the revex-so the other and actsto force its side of the sheet upward while the other acts to force itsside of the sheet downward, and consequently a description of one willanswer in large measure for a descri tion of the The main feature of t earms are tile feeding chains of which there are two in each'arm. Thosein the right hand'or, upwardly inclined arm are shown at 50 and 51,

the former being the upper chain and locatd' above the sheet and thelatter being the lower chain and located below the work. The chain 50 ismade oflinks longitudinally grooved on their faces to in crease theirholding power, "and runs over the driving sprocket 31 already mentioned,and, over a second sprocket 52 on a short shaft 53. The chain 51 iscomposed .of flat faced links, referably somewhat wider than the linksof chain 50, and runs over the driving sprocket 34 above. mentioned, andalso over another sprocket 54 011" a shaft 55. The chain 50 is arran edthe directionof the feed, w .le the chain 51 is arranged at an outwardangle and both are in bearing contact with unexpanded parts of the sheetso long as any parts remain unexpanded, and the necessary pressure u onthe work is caused by providing one of the chains with pressure devicesback of that course of the chain which is in contact with the work. Iprefer to combine these pressure devices with the grooved link chain 50,and they consist of rollers 56 'on studs 57 which are eccentrieallysupported the zig zag ortion 62 of the frame of the arm, and t eirtension tends to rock the pivots in the direction which will causepressure b the rollers.

Bac of that portion of chain 5] which bears against the work andconsequently sustains the pressure caused by the. rollers 56, I place aseries of anti-friction rollers 64 ada ted to ease the movement of thechain witllbut detracting from r the work. The bearin of the shafts 29and 53 are formed in the fii ngitudinal frame 65 pressure roller pivots,and the chain 50 is moved throughan inclosed path formed in the side ofthe frame and closed at its vertical side by the plate 66. The frame hasa lateral flange 67 at its bottom which serves as a means of unitingframe 65 to the lateral flange 68 of the frame the s rocket wheel shaftso orthe rollers 64, an cersed lgssaid chain are shaped to conform to theThe expanding devices which are now-to described 4 13i} practicallytwo dver ng uplon rocking pivots 58 having, arms 59 t0 sliver e and asthe.chains are ada the pressure upon 69 of the lower chain 51. Frame 69is similar'to frame 65 and it furnishes bearings for crating chain 51the ways travam, and a plate 70 closes said ways at the vertical side.

The two frames 65 and 69 and the chainsunitedly term one of thediverging ex ander arms adapted to oper ate on one si e of the sheet andsuch arm is pivotally secured to the main frame at one end by the arm71. The other ex ander arm is downwardly inclined but it is like theupwardly inclined arm in many res acts. It is provided with alongitudinal ame 69, having a lateral flange 68, is rovided with agrooved link chain 500 sim' ar to chain 50,

and with a fiat link chain 501 similarito chain 51 and with similar srocket wheels for driving said chains. It ifiers from the upwardlyinclined arm however in these a'dditional respects; the chains500 and501 are reversed in location the former, being below the work and thelatter aboveit', and the latter is arranged at an ad is to the line ofmovement of the sheet which. isv reversed from the angle of chain 50.,,Pressure rollers supported by eccentrics and controlled, by springssimilar to rollers 56 are rovided actin upwardlly on chain 500,' ananti-friction r0 ers sim' ar to rollers 64 are provided above the lowercourse of chain 500. Chain 500 is arranged parallel to chain 50.

With this construction the operation is substantially as follows: Thesheet which is advanced by the rollers 40 and 43, after passing theguides 47 and 48, enters between the chains of the expander arms, chains50 and 51 taking hold of.it at one side of its central, longitudinalline and chains 500,, and 501 taking hold of it at the other side ofsaid line. As the paths of the two pairs of chains ted to gri thes eetfirmly and to feed it a ong, it w' 1 be seen that as the sheet is movedone side or half of the sheet will and the otherside or half will beorced downward. This divergence in the paths of the chains causes such astrain upon theip i tionsof the sheet lying between the chag s as toforce those portions to oped, and'as the chains 50 and 501 are arrangedat angles diverging oppositely from the center of the sheet, the chainswi' until finall sanded.

ortion of the sheet between those ens as the,. ppera'tio'n proceeds allportions of it:become exn the operation, the sheet is rawn or flows overthe proximate sides or edges of chains 51 and 5.01, which serve the samepurpose in o suing the slits as do the proximate edges 0 the'tables-orsu ports of my said patent. At the point w are the sheet is first takenhold of by the chains, the chains 51and 501 come close together buttheir paths diverge from that point to their shift outward toward t emargins of the sheet and finally pass beyond the same, retainin however,in conjunction with chains and 500 such control of the sheet as isneeded to cause the opening of all the slits in it. sponding to that ofthe rolls 40 and llland t e operation as an entiret is very similar tothat of the patentedmac ine, the openin commencing at the center of theforward en of the sheet, and proceeding in gradually lengthenin diagonallines exterldmgfrom the contra line to the margins. The unexpandedportions of the sheet are maintained in a flat condition until theyreach theinner edge of and are drawn oil the chains 51' and 501. Eachpair of chains thus constitutes a rip ing means comprising twocontinuous exi le grippers. ,Relativeto one of thesev two airs ofchains, the, other pair may be considered as a holding'mean's whichholds the sheet at one edge against transverse The upwardlytlicliriedarmis supported .atits outer or reagynd by an upstanding ar'm .400,in'conjunc n with a depending'projection 401, whi 1 is adjust-ablybolted to the arm by the bolt $02, and the downwardly inclined arm issqpported at the rearend b' providing it with a depending leg 403, whicmay be bolted td a stationary riser 404; To

adjust this armipi belt. 405 is arranged under leg 403.

' claim:

1. lna machine forexpan'ding a slitted sheet of metal, the combination,with means for holding the sheet at one edge against transverse edgewisemovement, of a gripping means at the other edge of the sheet .compris?mg two continuous flexible rippers one at each side of the sheet, thegripping means A diverging from the holding means, and'me'chanism forcausing a rogressive movement of the said holding an 'the said grippingmeans to cause the expgpsion of the sheet.

.50: "sheet of metal, the. combination of two gripeIfor expanding aslitted means, one at each edge of the sheet, sai two gripping meansdiverging from each other an each comprising two continuous flexiblegrippers, one at each side of the sheet; and mechanism for causing the'pr0 gressive movement of the grippers to expand the sheet.

i diver eiit from each ot er in a direction at an angle to the normalplane of the" sheet;

All the chains-move at a speed corre-.

and mechanism for causing the progressive movement of the grippers toexpand the sheet.

4. In a machine for expandin a slitted sheet of metal, the combination 0two gripping devices, one at each edge of the sheet, the twogrippingdevices diverging from each other, and each gripping device having twogr'ippin surfaces extending continuously along t e sheet one at eachside thereof, be-

4 tween which surfaces the sheet is held, and

mechanism for causing the progressive movement of said surfaces toexpand the sheet.

5.- In a machine for expanding aslitted sheet of metal, the combinationof two gripping means, one at each edge pf the sheet, said two grippingmeans diverging from each other, and each comprising two endless chainsone at each side of the sheet, between which chains the sheet is held,andmechanism for causing a progressive movement of the'chains to expandthe sheet.

6. In a machine for expanding a slitted sheet of metal, the combination,with means for holding the sheet at one edge against transverse edgewisemovement, of a gripping means at the other edge of the sheet comprisingtwo chains, one at each side of the sheet, between which chains thesheet is held, the said gripping means divergin from the holding means,and mechanism or causing a progressive movement of the said holdingmeans and the said gripping means to cause the expansion of .the sheet.

7.- In a machine for expanding a slitted sheet of metal, thecombination, with means for holding the sheet at one edge against.

transverse edgewise movement, of a gripping means at theother edge ofthe sheet comprising two continuous flexible grippers, one at each sideof the sheet, the gripping means diverging from the holding means in adirection at an angle to the normal plane of the sheet, and mechanismforcausmg. the pro:

gressive movement of the said holding means and of the said grippingmeans to cause the sheet to be drawn over the edge of one of thegrippers and cause'the progressive expansion of the sheet.

8. The machine. for expanding slitted sheets of metal, having divergingexpander arms provided with moving pressure-exert 'ing chainsrespectively above and below the sheets. t,

9. The machine for expanding slitted sheets of metal, having divergingexpander arms provided with feeding and expanding means consisting ofopposing pressure-exerting chains arranged above and below the sheetandgrippin the unexpanded portionsthereof between t em.

10. The machine for expanding slit-ted sheets of metal having divergingexpander arms, the feeding means whereo consistfgi opposing chains, oneabove and one belo the sheet and moving with it, and grippin itsunexpanded marginal portions, sai chains being ada ted to release thewidening expanded zone 0 the sheet as the operation proceeds.

11. The machine for expanding slitted sheets of metal having, diverginexpander arms, the. feeding means whereo consist of opposing'chains ineach arm, one above and one below the sheet and moving with it, andgripping its unex anded margins, one of eac pair of chains eing arrangedparallel to the line of the feed and the other one of each pair beingarranged at an angle to such line.

12. he met-al'expanding machine, the combination with diverging expanderarms, of a pair of'feedi chains for each arm, one above andone be o'wthe sheet and acting to grip the unexpandedmar ins of the sheet, one ofeach pair of chains firming an edge over which the sheet is drawn.

13; In a metal ex anding machine, the combination of two iverging pairsof gripping feeding chains adapted to grip the unexpanded margins ofthesheet, one chain of each pair being above the sheet and onev chain ofeach pair below it.

14; In a metal ex anding machine, the combination of two lverging pairsof grip ping feeding chains, each (pair adapted to grip one of theunexpande margins of the sheet at the outer line of the expanding zone.

15. In a metal ex anding machine, the combinationof two iverging pairsof gripping feed chains arranged to grip the unexanded margins the sheetat the outer ines of the expanding zone and to shift their holdoutwardly as that zone Widens.

16. In 'a metal ex anding machine, the combination of two iverging pairsof gripping feed chains, adapted to grip the unexanded margins of thesheet a ong the outer ines of the expandin z'one, their gripping actionchanging location with the widening of the expanded zone and during theoperation;

17 In a machine for expanding previously slitted sheets, the combmatiohof pairs of continuously movin op osing chains gripping the surfaces oft e s eats and diverging supports traversed by said chains, each pair ofsaid chains serving to draw the sheet off the ed e of the other pair.

18. he machine for expanding previously slitted sheet metal wherein arecombined feeding means traveling with the sheet and adapted to holdalongitudinalmarginal portion of the unexpanded sheet in a fixed lane,with means for deflecting the adjacent ongi- V tudinal portion of thesheet from said plane and simultaneously expandin it.

19. Themachine for expan ing previously slitted sheet metal wherein arecombined feeding means traveling with the sheet and adapted to hold agradually narrowing longitudlnal marginal portion of the unex nded sheetin afixed plane,- with means or deflecting the adjacent longitudinalortion of the sheet from said plane and simu taneously expanding it. a

20. The machine for expanding slitted sheets of metal, having divergingexpanders provided with moving, continuous and flex1- le pressureexerting-devices respectively above and below the sheets.

LEWIS 'E. CURTISL

